An arm for an arm
by ECourtade
Summary: A story about a trainee's last day.


Hi, this is my first fanfiction, and I know it's not great, but hey, at least I did it, so please be nice.

The birds woke me up. They started singing as soon as the sun came up. I lay awake a while before opening my eyes. My mouth was dry. I sat up quietly and looked around at my roommates. They were all still sleeping. Sasha was snoring softly. I pushed the blanket off, climbed down , and headed to the bathrooms as quietly as possible, knowing that if I awoke either Annie or Mikasa there'd be hell to pay.  
I had a few hours until breakfast, so I warmed up a bath and climbed in. Sighing, I let myself sink down to my neck and tried to remember what I'd dreamt that night. As hard as I thought, nothing came back to me. I shrugged it off and finished washing myself.  
I got out, dried myself off and put on my uniform. I glanced at my reflection in the mirror. With it blurred by the steam I almost looked good. I wiped it off with my towel. The hot bath had made my face red blotchy, my hair was messy and half of it had come undone from the braid I'd slept in. I remade the braid and washed my face with cold water to cool off.  
When I got back to the room Mikasa and Christa were up. Mikasa was reading in her bed and Christa sat on the floor, cross-legged, brushing her blonde hair. I smiled at them, knowing better than to make any noise before everyone was awake.

Breakfast consisted of porridge made with water, to the dissatisfaction of Sasha.  
"Can you believe they give us _this_?", she said disgusted. "I bet the graduates get all the good stuff."  
I raised an eyebrow. "We've been getting this since we started, what were you expecting?"  
She sighed."Well, since it is our last day as trainees, wouldn't you have thought they'd give us something nice?"  
"Like what?" asked Connie, from the other side of the table.  
"Like eggs, or maybe... meat" Sasha answered as her mouth watered.  
"Shut up and eat your bread." Growled Ymir, shoving the loaf in her mouth "I don't want to get in trouble on the last day here."

"Which faction are you joining?" Everyone asked each other the same question.  
"Uh, Military Police, for sure." Jean's voice was easy to make out over the others. Even after Eren's speech he hadn't changed his mind. I didn't judge him for it. If I'd been in the top ten, I'd have joined them without a second thought.  
"What about you?" Sasha asked tapping me in the shoulder.  
"It's the garrison for me." I forced a smile. "I've always liked roses after all."

I stretched, raising my arms high over my head. It was a warm day and the sun felt nice on my face. As far as the eye could see the sky was cloudless. Spring was almost over and the fields were a deep, lush green. I took a deep breath, taking all the peacefulness in. Even with all the wind, the view from the walls was definitely worth it.  
_I guess that's one good thing about the Garrison, _I thought,_ I'll always have this view.  
_Ymir shook my shoulder.  
"Care to get your head off the clouds? We're supposed to be checking the cannons."  
"Can you loosen up? It's done. By this time tomorrow we'll be graduates." I grinned at her.  
She frowned. "Whatever."  
It all happened at once. As I turned back to look at the fields, the air grew still and there was a flash of lightning to my left. A second later came the thunder. It rumbled through the wall, making us all fall to our knees. No, it wasn't thunder. At once I saw a gigantic titan where the lightning'd struck. It was completley fleshless and it's head peeked over the wall. He'd smashed the wall open.

It took us all a few seconds to react. I could just make out a figure maneuvering around it, trying to get to the neck, but as suddenly as it'd appeared, it vanished, leaving yet another smoke cloud behind.  
A couple of Garrison soldiers were shouting at us. I looked down at the town. Titans were flooding in. It took me a while to understand their words.  
"DOWN. GET DOWN FROM THERE AT ONCE."

My hands shook. I balled them up into fists. _It tore a hole. It smashed a hole. Oh god no. _My breath was coming fast and uneven_. We're gonna die. I'm gonna die._ A five-meter class lumbered towards me. From the rooftop I could see more pouring in through the huge, gaping hole. My legs were frozen, I couldn't move. _Please, please, move your legs. It's just like training. I just have to cut its neck and I'll be fine. _The titan had now noticed me and staggered closer. _It's slow. That big fuck is slow, get behind it and it'll be done for. _I swallowed my fear and forced my legs to move. I gripped my sword hilts and tore them out. I leaped off the roof and anchored my gear to a tall house behind the giant. As I'd suspected it was slow. I kicked off the house and went flying towards its weak point. I slashed midair. Not deep enough. I clutched its hair and hacked again and again until chunks of its skin fell off.

I jumped off and turned to look at my work. The titan rocked back and forth for a bit before it fell forward, wrecking the roof I'd been standing on.

It was exhilarating. _I did it. I killed my first titan!_ I saw a soldier running past, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, towards the wall. I shot my 3d gear anchor up at a building and joined him.  
"Did you see that? Did you see me kill it?" I asked excited, forgetting the situation.  
He shook her head without turning around.  
"Sorry, no." He muttered.

As we neared the wall, I saw another titan, this time a skinless 7-meter class. I stopped running.  
"Watch out, it might be an aberrant." He said. I nodded and shot my 3d to the houses behind it. This one was faster. It turned around as soon as I had. _Aberrant, huh?_ The soldier gestured at me. _Distract it._ I nodded and leaded the titan away from the soldier. I whipped around just in time to see the soldier jump, with both his blades in each hand, and slash at it. He never made it. The titan had turned its head around and caught him in its mouth. The soldier didn't have time to make a sound before it shut its jaw down and swallowed him.

I stood dumb struck, my mouth gaping open.  
"YOU SON OF A BITCH" I screamed in a fit of fury and jumped at it. It'd definitely been faster than I'd imagined. It caught me midair in its right fist. I screamed, kicked, and struggled. No use, it had an iron grip around my torso. I'd dropped my swords when it caught me. That's when the realization I was about to die hit me. All my fears came flooding in at once

"LET GO!" I bawled. "PLEASE, DON'T KILL ME!" It brought me closer to its face. The giant's eyes seemed to gleam. It reached its other hand down at me. I shut my eyes tight, tears streaming down my cheeks. I felt it take my arm. I opened my eyes. It had my right arm between its index finger and thumb. I tugged my arm back and wildly kicked my legs out at it . It tightened its grip.  
"Wha-" The giant started to pull my arm. "NO! ST-STOP!" I screamed. It started pulling harder. My screams became wails. I could feel my arm getting pulled off its socket. It came off with a sickening pop. My head fell back and my screams resonated in my head. My breath caught in my throat. I struggled desperately, trying to free myself. I had no control over my body. _Please, let it end._  
I gasped for air. All of it seemed to have left me. I saw my skin tear at the shoulder. Blood ran down its fingers, my blood. With one last tug it was off. I could see my arm dangling limp in its hand.


End file.
